CHICAGO – A broadcaster’s greatest legacy is the calls that linger for generations of the future to hear and enjoy.
Safe to say that Pat Foley’s going to be remembered for quite a while after he signs off around 10 PM on Thursday night at the United Center.
Over his 39 seasons calling games for the Blackhawks that have come across five different decades, Pat Foley has enthusiastically told the story of many of the franchise’s great moments. Some of those came in the 1980s and 1990s, when many fans fell in love with the team thanks to Foley’s calls.
There was the Murray Bannerman save on Keith Acton in Game 6 of the Norris Division Finals on April 30, 1985 that made him a household name for many. There were the calls at old Chicago Stadium that could be heard even as the fans shook the rafters of the original “Madhouse on Madison.”
While the years were leaner in the late 1990s and then early-to-mid 2000, Foley did what he could to keep things entertaining. When he returned in 2009, the announcer was able to introduce fans to a new era of Blackhawks hockey.
Now Foley will step behind the microphone one more time as the Blackhawks’ play-by-play announcer on Thursday when the rebuilding team faces the Sharks at 7:30 PM. He’ll team up with Eddie Olzcyk, just as he has many times over this run with the franchise, to entertain fans over the course of 60 minutes and maybe a little overtime.
For this week’s #WGNTBT, Larry Hawley took some time to reflect on his favorite calls, and having grown up in the 1980s and 1990s, many of them come from radio.
You can watch this week’s edition of #WGNTBT by clicking on the video above.